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Illustration love

Last week a friend of mine and I made a day trip to Mikkeli to collect our glass and ceramics exhibition pieces from a local gallery (from my very first group exhibition outside school!), and although we had bit of a tight schedule we managed to squeeze in enough time to pop in at the Mikkeli Art Museum to see the 11th Illustration Triennial exhibition.

I’m just bananas about illustration art and have quite a few illustrator crushes, so it was really lovely to see original works by some of the best in Finland on display. The triennial is actually an illustration competition with awards, and this year it showcased 99 works by 47 artists that were chosen by a jury from 254 entries by 89 illustrators. So there was lots to see and admire!

If you are interested in the Finnish illustration scene, I recommend visiting Agent Pekka‘s and Napa Agency‘s websites. Those two agencies represent quite a few of the best illustration artists in Finland, and both were prominent at the triennial. Agent Pekka’s Eero Lampinen won the 1st award for his poster for the 29th Helsinki International Film Festival, and eight artists from Napa Agency had their works on display.

I have bit of a soft spot for the Napa Agency due to the fact that it has its roots in Napa Books, a publishing house that was founded by Jenni Rope, one of my favourite artists. And, Napa Agency is in fact also the first illustration agency in Finland. Besides representing artists, they also offer workshops for everyone interested in illustration. They had a pattern workshop last spring that I would have wanted to participate in. Maybe next time!

Satu Kettunen‘s Otso Aarnisen salaperäinen seikkailu (published by Tammi) is definitely on my wish list, as is her new book Yökirja (also by Tammi). Her illustration style is really colourful, fun, quirky and bright – and full of life. You can have a sneak peek at Otso’s adventures in her website, here.

The invited guest was the graphic designer, illustrator Paula Troxler. I’m a bit shamed to say that I wasn’t aware of her work before, but now I’m definitely a fan. Especially pieces from her Every Day a Drawing project made an impact, as well as her posters. I wish I could produce some day such fluid and deceptively simple works. Sigh…